James Stanier

James Stanier, Director of Engineering at Shopify and author, shares valuable insights on engineering leadership. He distinguishes between engineering leaders and managers using the three levels of warfare. The conversation dives into organizational design, time management, and strategic communication. James emphasizes long-term thinking, the significance of writing, and the nuances of decision-making. He highlights mentorship's role in leadership and the importance of adaptability in career growth, providing practical tips for aspiring leaders in the tech industry.

James Stanier, SVP of Engineering at Brandwatch, shares tips on effective one-on-one meetings for engineering managers, including handling challenging personalities, preparing for meetings, giving critical feedback, and common mistakes to avoid. He emphasizes the importance of listening to frustrated team members and turning negativity into constructive energy.

Listen to James Stanier, Director of Engineering at Shopify, and Gergely Orosz, author of 'The Software Engineer's Guidebook,' discuss topics like transitioning into management roles in the software engineering industry, establishing expectations and goals in management relationships, mastering stoicism in leadership, and exploring software engineering management books and training programs.

Interview with James Stanier, Director of Engineering at Shopify. He talks about setting yourself up for success by planning for the unexpected, goal- and achievement tracking and keeping your calendar under control. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter!In this interview we're covering:Reasons to manage your energy, not your timeTips to manage your energyAspects of managing your energy, not your time Energy management for senior leaders vs. ICsCommunication with colleagues while managing your energyExcerpt from the interview:"I have flexibility over my calendar. I’m in a high-intensity environment, but I have more time than I used to. I have noticed that my previous habits didn’t suit my current situation, and I realized that managing my energy was more important than managing my time. "Click here to read the full interview!

"Is my team solving the right problem?" To answer this seemingly simple question, we assembled a panel of some of the smartest engineering leaders we know and asked them how they answer this question with their own teams.Featuring Rukmini Reddy, SVP of Platform Engineering at Slack, James Stanier, Dir. of Engineering at Shopify, and Smruti Patel, VP of Engineering at Apollo, the following conversation debuted in front of a live audience at the Interact engineering conference. Originally an exclusive conversation for Interact attendees, we listened to our fans and decided to drop the full conversation as an episode of the podcast. Items of note: This panel was filmed in October prior to many of the recent layoffs that have been in the news. When this panel was recorded Smruti Patel worked at Stripe. She has since taken a job with Apollo. Show NotesOFFERS Start Free Trial: Get started with LinearB's AI productivity platform for free. Book a Demo: Learn how you can ship faster, improve DevEx, and lead with confidence in the AI era. LEARN ABOUT LINEARB AI Code Reviews: Automate reviews to catch bugs, security risks, and performance issues before they hit production. AI & Productivity Insights: Go beyond DORA with AI-powered recommendations and dashboards to measure and improve performance. AI-Powered Workflow Automations: Use AI-generated PR descriptions, smart routing, and other automations to reduce developer toil. MCP Server: Interact with your engineering data using natural language to build custom reports and get answers on the fly.